Why Are We Here? (5)
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Prayer
Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 2:1-3
Context
Context
Last week, we looked at the aspect of Discipleship. We come to this place so that we might be more like Christ, so that we might walk in His steps.
We were able to see that to be a Christian, is to be a Disciple. The word disciple means “Follower”, and the word Christian means to be a “Christ Follower”.
What a wonderful service that was Amen!!
Today, we want to continue with this thought of discipleship.
We are going to go to 1 Peter as our base text:
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
24 because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Content
Content
Notice with me that Peter does not jump immediately into this thought of discipleship, or spiritual growth.
He starts at the beginning. Every single disciple of Christ has been genuinely born again, so he starts at salvation.
23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
Peter validates our claim from last week, that if someone is a disciple, it is because they have first been born again. They have come to know the Lord personally. They are part of the family of God. They have been adopted by the Heavenly Father, and as he says in 2:3, they have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
They know the grace of God firsthand, because they have experienced the grace of God firsthand. They have witnessed His great love in the moment that He saved them.
This is the catalyst. This is the reason for everything that comes next. Now we are currently speaking on the topic of discipleship, and as Peter clearly teaches us, the motivation for our discipleship, the drive for our discipleship comes from the fact that God graciously moved on our behalf before we even desired Him, or even realized that we needed Him.
God moved first by sending Jesus, His only Son, to die on the cross for us.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
That is the Gospel in a nutshell. In my opinion, that verse is a close 2nd to John 3:16, in explaining the fullness of the Gospel in one verse. Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness. That is the Good News of the Gospel.
Now notice what Peter does here.
He says, if you have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious, if indeed you have been born again, then:
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
Every true Christian should have a desire for growth. Everyone who has truly tasted of the goodness of God, knows just how good it really is, and therefore, should be craving more and more of it. There should be a desire for knowing God on a deeper level, for leaning in as close as one might possibly do so. It is to have the desire to be like John, whom leaned in so close that he literally laid his head on Jesus’s chest. That is the type of closeness that we should desire.
Now the question becomes, how do we do that?
Well, let’s unpack that today!!!
First, notice that Peter mentions the Word of God 5 times in these verses.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
Peter says that the main source of spiritual growth in our lives is indeed the Word of God.
vs. 22 - The Word is Truth
vs. 23 - The Word is incorruptible & it lives and abides forever
vs. 25 - The Word endures forever & contains the Good News of the Gospel
vs. 2 - The Word is the source of our growth
If we walk backwards now through these same verses, we will see why the Word of God is the main source of our growth:
vs. 25 - It contains the Good News of the Gospel
vs. 25 - The Word endures forever
vs. 23 - The Word lives and abides forever
vs. 23 - The Word is incorruptible (it is pure, it is unchanging)
vs. 22 - The Word is truth (it is right, it is perfect, it is good)
Now notice what we are to do with the Word of God:
We are to obey it
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
our obedience to the Word of God determines the pace at which we grow. The quicker we believe and apply the truths of God’s Word to our lives, the quicker we advance in our walk with the Lord. The longer we take to believe and apply the truths of God’s Word to our lives, the longer it will take for us to advance in our walk with the Lord.
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
To have a desire for growth… … is to have a desire for godliness. Is to have a want to, a drive, a determination to be like Him. To walk like Him, to talk like Him, to treat others the way He treated them, to love others the way He loved them.
We are to desire spiritual growth, but growth in what? What exactly is it that we are trying to grow in? It isn’t just knowledge. It is application. It is live like He lived… to walk in His steps… like we talked last week.
We are to desire it for ourselves… to love it… to cherish it… to see it for it is, which is our source of life and growth, our pathway to a deeper, fuller relationship with the Father. We are to crave it… be lost without it… and come to realize that the Word of God is to our spirit what food is to our flesh. It is our sustenance, our vitality as stated in vs. 2
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
We are to preach it
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
The word preach here is the Greek word “euangelizo”.
Euangelizo
It is where we get the word “Evangelize” from. To evangelize simply means “to announce the Good News”.
We are to take the Word of God and share it with others. Notice that Peter is not speaking here to a group of preachers, but rather to the whole church. He says it is the responsibility of every disciple to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others for the purpose of expanding the kingdom.
We “Read To Learn”, “Learn To Love”, & “Love To Live”
We are to use it guide us in our relationships with others (Discipleship)
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
This is the heart of discipleship. It is to form relatoinships with others that revolve around the Word of God. Yes, there are some common interests there, there is a wonderful blend of personality, but most importantly, it is to be guided by the Word of God and each other to grow in Christ.
Here in a few weeks, we are going to take a deeper dive into this thought, but for today, I want to see this.
You can grow in Christ without the help of others. If its just you and God and the Bible, you can and will experience growth. But God not intend for you to life that way. He intended for us to grow together in relationship and hold one another accountable for how we lives for the Lord.
If you have people in your life whom you allow to hold you accountable, you will grow exponentially faster than those who do not. It’s a basic truth of Scripture.
Encouragement
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
Accountability
17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Spiritual Formation & Growth
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Time of Worship
Time of Worship
Do you have a desire for growth?
Do you have someone in your life whom you have allowed to hold you accountable for how you are living your life for the Lord?
Do you believe that the Word of God is truth?
